The original series started in '87 but went on strong after that and most of us saw it especially since I bet somebody in our family was a fan and had the tapes and made us sit and watch it (in my case it was my dad who loved the show -_-). At first it didnt seem too cool but after the first episode I fell in love. How could you not love the Turtles?!
There was Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and of course Splinter.

Leonardo was the courageous and disciplined martial arts student and leader of the group(blue mask). Donatello was the smart one that would rather use his brains than his martial arts in a fight(purple mask). Raphael(my favorite) was the hot-headed, aggressive, sarcastic, fierce fighter with a good heart(red mask). Michelangelo was the free spirited, easy going one that always provided some comedy(orange mask). Splinter was a mutant rat that adopted the TMNTs and raised them as his own meanwhile training them in martial arts.

Which one was your favorite?